Of Light In Darkness
by LaceyLivesInLaLaLand
Summary: ;-; shane walsh x oc, potentially an au, read notes please ;-; Carolina Greene and Shane Walsh spent a week together the year before the apocalypse started. At the end of that week, both went their separate ways and neither expected to ever see the other again but what will happen when Rick's group show up at Hershel's farmhouse and the two are thrown together again?
1. Chapter 1

**BEFORE I START:** Okay, this is something I came up with earlier. There aren't many fanfictions featuring Shane x OC and I happened to mostly like his character.. I mean I hated some of Shane's actions, but I get that he was in a really dark place too and not thinking straight.. So I wrote this out and I'm not sure yet if I want to go beyond this chapter or not or what I'll do with it but I felt like I would share it and see where it leads. I do know that if I keep it going, Shane is not going to die. And most likely, he will be leaving the group with Carolina.

Here it goes. Let's see if this gets any response, shall we?

* * *

The group had come shortly after the two men and the little boy appeared walking up the dirt driveway. Maggie had told her there were other survivors out there but Carolina had been reluctant to believe her younger sister. And now that her father was opening the house up to perfect strangers, Carolina was wondering why in the hell she'd come back to the family home to ride out the end of the world to begin with.. Did her father not realize that people weren't all to be trusted now? The end of the world made people do insane things, hell, Beth was engaged, gonna marry some guy she had English class with just because they were 'in love' and it seemed like the right thing to do in the end of days.. Maggie was eying one of the guys already but Carolina kept her thoughts on the matter quiet.. Until she saw someone she never thought she'd see again.. And she gasped in shock.

Shane Walsh, this guy she'd met one night at a bar and hooked up with was standing in the middle of her father's den. She quickly diverted her gaze and busied herself with what she'd been doing when the group arrived and consoled herself with the thought that maybe he didn't remember her.

That one week of one night stands between them had been her one and only one night stand. And the way she'd seen him flirting, she was at least 90 percent sure that he'd forgotten her completely by the time the sun rose that Sunday and he woke up to find himself in bed alone. It probably hadn't even phased him. If only it worked the same for her.. It'd taken her a while, convincing herself not to go back, convincing herself that the way they fell into bed together wasn't right, nor was it a basis for a good relationship, but she'd managed to finally move past it.

She'd honestly never expected to see him again, after all, it wasn't like she'd told him her life story and he damn sure hadn't told her his either and he didn't even know where in Georgia she lived, just that it wasn't King County.

But now, here he was, standing in the middle of her father's living room.. She felt eyes on her and she looked up and right into his hypnotic dark eyed gaze. She bit at her lower lip, felt all the color draining from her face, and hurriedly, she stood up, practically bolting to the kitchen, spilling a glass of sweet tea in the process.

Shane studied the curvy and petite light brunette with a raised brow.. He felt like he knew her.. Like he'd seen her somewhere.. And then the old man, - her father he was assuming, he called her name and it hit Shane like a literal ton of bricks..

Rick turned his gaze to his best friend and Shane nodded, muttered something about needing to step out and get air and then he too bolted out of the room. Rick raked his hand through his hair and Lori looked at her husband with a raised brow and Rick leaned in, whispered, "Remember that girl he talked about nonstop for about a year? The one he tried to find so he could take her out on an actual date?"

"The one that was gone when he woke up after they'd been together every single night for a week? The one girl he didn't want to throw out the door after they were together? Wait.." Lori started to piece things together for herself and Rick nodded.

Shane quietly shut the screen door leading out to the back porch of the farmhouse and stood there watching as Carolina paced, kicking at dirt and rocks while swearing quietly to herself. He cleared his throat and spoke up, "Carolina?"

Carolina froze in her tracks and turned around slowly. Her eyes met his and she raked her hands through her hair. "You remember me?" she asked, a startled look in hazel eyes as they fixed on him.

"Remember you, darlin, hell.. I tried to find ya for almost a year after ya left." Shane admitted quietly, sitting down on the back steps of the farmhouse. Carolina's heart raced a little at his words and she bit her lip, sitting down on the edge of the back porch, staring off into the distant field. For a few minutes, neither one of them spoke but finally, Carolina answered quietly, "I had to go before.." she bit her lip, trying to think of the best way to explain why she'd left back then.

"Before what?"

"Before I fell for you and everything that was so perfect completely fucked up.. I mean you told me you weren't looking to settle down.. And we only knew each other a week but.. I was starting to get used to you, to get settled into this pattern and I… When I realized where we stood after we talked all night that last night, I realized I had to leave. I couldn't just settle for being someone's fling. Why'd you.. Why look for me?"

"Because when ya left I realized I wanted it to be more than just wild sex and no commitment." Shane admitted quietly, his gaze falling to his hands as he coughed a little. This whole situation was completely awkward.

His words had her heart racing against her chest and she looked up and over at him as she admitted quietly, " I drove back up two weekends before all the evacuations started.. I just.. I wanted to be with you.. I wanted to see you again.. I didn't want to face what I thought was a certain death without seeing you one more time, but then I saw you getting cozy with that woman in my dad's living room.. I figured you moved on and you were happy so I left and came out here."

Shane raked his hand through his hair and said quietly, "Wish you hadn't just left without sayin somethin."

"Would it have mattered?"

"I don't know.. Maybe."

Her father called her name and she looked up at Shane for a few seconds, clearly confused as to why any of it mattered to him.. Then she stepped around him and walked into the house.

Shane sat there on the back porch of the farmhouse trying to figure out what he was feeling at the moment.. Because when he'd seen her again after figuring out exactly who she was, all those old feelings from a year ago came rushing right back.


	2. Chapter 2

**BEFORE I START:** Okay, this is something I came up with earlier. There aren't many fanfictions featuring Shane x OC and I happened to mostly like his character.. I mean I hated some of Shane's actions, but I get that he was in a really dark place too and not thinking straight.. So I wrote this out and I'm not sure yet if I want to go beyond this chapter or not or what I'll do with it but I felt like I would share it and see where it leads. I do know that if I keep it going, Shane is not going to die. And most likely, he will be leaving the group with Carolina.

Here it goes. Let's see if this gets any response, shall we?

* * *

She'd just stepped out into the hallway, intent on going down to her room, getting dressed. She found herself body to body with Shane Walsh and she looked up at him, biting her lower lip as she clutched at the slipping towel wrapped around her. Shane gave a cough and tried not to think about any six of the nights when he'd seen the amazing body beneath that towel, touched it, held it, made her scream his name quite a few times. "Didn't know anyone else was still up." Carolina muttered finally as Shane nodded and then answered, "Couldn't sleep."

"Yeah, me either."

"You okay, hon?"

"Yeah, just.. Too damn hot for one thing and I've had a lot on my mind lately." Carolina admitted that much but she wasn't about to tell him that he'd been on her mind heavily since they were thrown back together, staying under one roof.. She was laying awake, worried about him.. Because there was this darkness in him that hadn't been there when she'd been with him a year ago.

Shane's hand was resting carefully at her hips, he couldn't stop himself, he was dying to touch her, he had been since the night they'd shown up at her daddy's farmhouse and they were thrown together again. He stared down into her eyes and got this feeling that for some reason, there was a lot she wasn't saying. He knew there was a lot he wasn't saying, but mostly because she'd been an expert at avoiding him for the better part of the two weeks they'd been under the same roof.

"Like what?" Shane asked finally as Carolina shook her head and muttered "nothing" under her breath. He noticed that she wasn't moving away from him or making a move to move his hand, instead, they seemed to be drifting closer to each other. Shane bit his lip as he looked down at her, brushed some damp hair out of her face as he asked quietly, "Wanna talk to me about it?"

"It's nothing, really." Carolina insisted, asking him quietly, "What about you? I thought that woman with you guys was your girlfriend.."

"I thought she was somethin to me, guess I was wrong.. Can't say I'm not glad lately." Shane admitted quietly, his other hand moving to rest on her other hip. Carolina clutched at the towel again to keep it from slipping and Shane chuckled as he observed, "You're still shy."

" I just.." She started to speak but instead, she found herself raising to tiptoe, brushing her lips to his cautiously. "Good night, Shane." she mumbled as she made herself walk away, down the hallway and into her room. Shane stood there for a second, watching the door she'd disappeared into, the one right next to his own door.

He went to get a shower and when he'd gotten out, he walked past her room, found the door open, saw her lying there, leg out of the cover. Chuckling to himself, he walked into the room and put her leg back under the patchwork quilt she slept under, sort of carefully tucking her in. From the doorway on the opposite side, the sound of a female clearing her throat had him looking up and Beth Greene, Carolina's younger sister stood there, a brow raised as she looked from Shane to her oldest sister's bed. "What the hell? You some kind of weirdo? You're always watching her and stuff."

"Your sister and me.. We kinda knew each other."

"Are you that guy she dated for a while when she was staying in King County?" Beth asked, eyes going wide for a second as Shane nodded, rubbed his hand over his now close shaven scalp. "Yeah. What'd she tell ya about me?"

"Just that she loved you and leavin was the hardest thing she had to do.. But that she had to because if she hadn't, it wouldn't have worked." Beth admitted quietly, motioning him to walk through to her room.

Once he had, she shut the door quietly and then inquired, "The way you were acting in there. That's not how someone acts when they don't really care about a person.. Why'd you tell her all that stuff?"

"Because, Beth.. At the time, I thought that's how I felt.. Took her leavin to find out how wrong I was.. She see anybody else?"

"Carolina? She's never really been much of a dater.. I was surprised she spent an entire week with you, actually.. And I used to wonder what it was about this guy she always talked about that made her feel the way she did.. I'm still actually not sure, I mean.."

Shane grumbled, but Beth said quickly, " Whatever is going on with you.. Don't hurt my older sister, okay?"

"I never intended to in the first place.. Gonna ask you somethin, kid.. And level with me.. Do you think I still have a chance?"

"Honestly? I know you do. She told me just a day ago she still feels things for you, but she's worried about you too.. That she thinks you're going through something dark right now, she's afraid that you're going to let the darkness or whatever win." Beth admitted quietly as she added, "She almost got married one time.. The guy's name was Jackson.. But he died a week before they got married.. She sort of just shut down after that… Until you.. Do with that what you want.." as she let Shane out of her room. Shane went down the hall and into his room and he lie there in the dark processing what Beth had just revealed to him, wondering what to do with it, or if he should even do something with it.. He knew himself that he was starting to change, that this guy he was becoming wasn't who he had been..

And he didn't want to get close to her and lose her too somehow because nothing was guaranteed in this new world they found themselves in.


	3. Chapter 3

The shouting from outside had Shane's ears perking. He put down the wood he'd been whittling and grabbed his Mossberg and ran out onto the back porch just in time to see Beth and Maggie helping Carolina up the back way, from one of the surrounding farmhouses. He didn't think, he just ran. There was blood all over her leg, he noticed.

His stomach started to churn as he imagined the worst case scenario, that she'd been bit. He knew then and there that if she ever did get bit.. He'd have to get someone else to put her down.. Because going by the range of emotions he felt right now.. He'd never be able to do it. "Was she bit?" he asked, plucking her from between her sisters carefully, scooping her into his arms as he started to jog towards the porch.

Beth noticed his paling face and explained breathlessly, "Whoever's holed up in that farmhouse about two miles out has rigged the damn place.. Maggie and me tried to stop her from going in as soon as we noticed the trip wire across the door but we were too late." as Shane gave a nod and then snapped angrily, "Told y'all take one of the men with ya. No, y'all had to be fucking stubborn." as he glared up at Maggie and Beth. Carolina spoke up in a pained voice and snapped back, "We were doin fine before. Wasn't their fuckin fault.. I-I was the one who.." as Shane turned to look at her, his hand brushing her hair out of her forehead.

She was starting to get a bruise and knot on the side of her temple.

Maggie and Beth ran in to get Hershel and Carolina looked down at Shane who was tearing a sleeve out of his shirt to tie off the bleeding in her leg. He looked up at her and said in a stern and quiet voice, "No more runs like today."

"You c-can't.." she started to argue and Shane shook his head, coming back up her body. He leaned down, pulling her lips against his desperately as he muttered against her lips, "You have got to be quiet and real still, okay? Or this bleedin is not gon stop." He noticed that she fought the kiss at first, but a few seconds passed and she started to cave in, gripping hold of the shirt he wore. "Gotta.." she panted as the kiss broke, finishing, "Breathe." Chuckling a little, trying not to let himself panic even though that's the thing he wanted to do most because the blood was gushing and it looked really bad from where he sat, Shane nodded. Throats clearing from the doorway of the back porch had him looking up to find Hershel standing there, watching him with a raised brow. "She wouldn't stop movin and arguin." Shane muttered, raking his hand through his hair as he coughed.

When Hershel walked out, Shane was kissing his daughter. This didn't make the old man happy at all, but he'd noticed something lately.. Everyone else in the group the man came with seemed to get the asshole side of the man.. Carolina seemed to get through to him, make this other side come out.. Sometimes Hershel found himself wondering if Shane weren't the man she got involved with for about a week the year before when she went to stay in King County with some old friends of hers after one of their huge fights. "She does that sometimes.. Mind getting out of my way and away from my daughter, Officer Walsh?" Hershel asked as he stared the other man down. When Shane had went back inside, Hershel set to work, cleaning away the blood, lecturing Carolina the entire time about the three of them having gone off without someone with them.

"We needed more canned food.. We're getting low."

"Don't argue with me right now, sugar.. Be still so dad can look at your leg.. What happened?"

"We were in the Acreman's place." Carolina panted, wincing and shrieking when her father started to work at the wound in her leg to try and figure out what was the cause of the bleeding, if he could remove it and how badly she'd bled.. "Go on." Hershel told his daughter, thinking that making her talk would keep her conscious until he needed her out.. He could tell she was slipping in and out and he looked up to make sure she was still awake. "Daddy, why'd you send Shane inside?"

"Because the last place he needs to be is out here with you. Man's no good."

"Shane's … You don't know him."

"We're not having this discussion while I'm trying to save your life, sweet pea. Now what were you saying about the Acreman farm?" Hershel asked his daughter, changing the subject.. He'd address the Shane issue later, when she was in the clear and on the way to recovery. For now, he needed to figure out what happened.

When he finally got the blood worked away and saw the shard of glass sticking out of the wound in her calf, he hissed.

"I went to go in." Carolina was struggling for breath now, she was starting to black out, she'd never felt this weak and dizzy in her entire life and she hated it. It was not something she wanted to feel again, ever. She continued, "Maggie and Beth were screamin when I opened the door and then BOOM.. Heard glass shattering.."

"That's all you remember?" Hershel asked as he looked up and told his daughter, "Grab onto something really tight." as he closed his eyes and yanked the shard of glass free.

Inside the house, Shane was gripping the counter in the kitchen with an almost white knuckled grip that didn't go missed by Glenn or Maggie, who was hiding her face in Glenn's shirt but looked up to see it. Finally, Shane walked out and onto the back porch.

"Shit." Beth muttered as she made her way out to make sure her father didn't start up with Shane and that he just let Shane be out there, close to Carolina.

Hershel looked up at the slamming of the screen door. He was just sewing the last bit of the wound shut. Carolina had passed out for a few minutes but Hershel was monitoring her vitals as best as he could.

"We're gon need more medical supplies." Shane spoke up quietly.

"Get away from my daughter and stay away." Hershel told the man as their eyes met, Shane's gaze a defiant one as he shook his head and said quietly, "Not gonna happen, Hershel."

"What is your angle here?" Hershel nodded to his daughter's passed out form as Shane sat down, told him everything about that week, not caring whether the man hated him at the end.. He had nothing else to lose at this point, he figured. He finished with a quiet, "And I still love her. So I ain't goin anywhere. I'd say I wanted your permission, sir, but life's too damn short.. You can either deal with me or hate me.. Don't much care which."

Hershel listened to the man and then said quietly, "So it was you."

"She talked to you about it?"

"A little bit now and then." Hershel admitted as Carolina started to stir, taking Shane by surprise when she called his name. Hershel stood and then eyeing the man warily, he made his way inside and made Beth, who'd stood there and seen the entire thing, heard the whole story a second time, go with him.

"You gotta be still, darlin." Shane told Carolina as she tried to sit.

"I'm fine." Carolina muttered, adding quickly, "Just weak."

"Blood loss.. It'll do that to you." Shane told her as he picked up her head, sitting down, putting her head on his leg after he'd sat. His fingers trailed through her hair and he said quietly, "I mean it.. No more risks like that. If I'd known where you and your sisters were really headin, I'd have come too.. And made Glenn come.."

"Shane, I'm not as weak as you.." Carolina was exhausted from the blood loss and didn't want to argue. "I heard what you told my daddy."

"I meant every word of it. I know I ain't a good guy…"

"They have you believing that, Shane, and I happen to think.." Carolina paused and then taking a breath, she continued " That it's not true. That stupid woman.. She filled your head with this crazy shit."

"You only knew me for a week."

"But I knew you better in that week than you think."

"You say you do, darlin.. But things are different.. For both of us." Shane wasn't even really sure why he was fighting what he felt or what she was admitting she still felt.. Maybe it was the thought of somehow really losing her and how scared he was of that happening. Because he was still working on calming down from this whole close call.

"No, Shane, they're not. And I'm sick of fighting it, okay?" Carolina looked up at him and then leaned up, pulling him down to her by the t shirt, pulling him into another kiss. "We don't have much time left.. Today proved that."

Shane nodded and then said quietly, "And scared the living shit out of me. Don't do that again." as he gave her a firm look. She nodded and gave a weak smile as she told him with a soft laugh, "I got lucky this time.. But no more risks.. I mean unless I have to."

"You won't.. I'm going to make sure of that."


End file.
